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Digital Collections (Project Grants)
MEAP has funded projects focused on preserving, documenting, and sharing publicly collections created by Indigenous communities as well as collections that reflect the experiences of Indigenous peoples. Today, we are highlighting three Project Grants that have completed digitization. Communities now have access to these materials.
The Justino Valentim Collection of Vaihoho Sung-Poems, Lautem, Timor-Leste
The Justino Valentim collection includes materials related to the endangered Vaihoho sung-stories of the Fataluku people of Timor-Leste. The collection consists of 17 sung poems(opens in a new tab) from the Lautem region & 5 Fataluku language dictionaries.
The Peruvian Peasant Confederation Archive: Rural and Indigenous Society, National Politics, and International Solidarity
Since 1947 the Confederación Campesina del Perú (CCP) has been active in defense of peasants and indigenous people. Their archive(opens in a new tab) documents the organized efforts of rural and indigenous people in Peru during the 20th century, including the 1969 agrarian reform and the conflict with the Shining Path (1980-1992).
Explore the Guide to the Confederación Campesina del Perú Archive (CCP) (in Spanish and English).
Memoria Abierta Publications
The Memoria Abierta collection includes publications (1987-86) from Servicio Paz y Justicia Ecuador & Servicio Paz y Justicia Bolivia(opens in a new tab), which documented social unrest, human rights violations, indigenous peoples, economic policy & broader regional news.
Collection Reports and Inventories (Planning Grants)
Planning Grant projects organize and document collections often as the first step towards future digitization. The reports and inventories that result from careful assessment reveal the breadth of collections around the world.
Visualizing Memory: Indigenous Resistance in Chiapas, Mexico (1998-2009)
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The Chiapas Media Project (CMP)/Promedios archive(opens in a new tab) held in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas was launched in 1998 as a Mexican-US collaboration to facilitate the production and distribution of audiovisual works through regional media centers built by Zapatista communities in Chiapas. These materials represent two decades of Indigenous peoples’ struggle to achieve autonomy and dignity in the face of overwhelming obstacles.
The project resulted in an inventory of 1400 video tapes(opens in a new tab). During the process of creating the inventory the team identified various historical movements and organizing trends in the region– 1998 to date. Identification of these different trends of organizing allowed us to trace how the Diocese supported the movement for indigenous rights, the regional women’s movement as well as how the Diocese incorporated indigenous cultural practices into their vision of liberation theology. Read more about the key themes identified in the collection(opens in a new tab).
Memories from No-Man's Land: Archives of the Peruvian Self-Defense Militias
The collection of the Archivo de la Sede Central del Comité de Autodefensa del Valle Apurímac-Ene(opens in a new tab) contains the archive of the Central Headquarters of the Self-Defense Committee of the Apurímac-Ene Valley located in the town of Pichiwillca, department of Ayacucho, Peru. The headquarter was created in 1984 as the central base of a larger network of peasant self-defense committees which was established by the rural population during the internal armed conflict between the Maoist rebel group Shining Path and the state forces (1980-2000).
Explore the collection guide in English, Spanish, Quechua.
Additional project teams continue to work around the world to digitize and document visual, textual, audio, and video collections related to Indigenous experiences. This includes the team at Fonoteca Nacional (Mexico) who have digitized the audio collection of Ricardo Montejano Collection. The collection includes over 3000 field and studio recordings that document Mexican social movements and indigenous cultures through the voices of social activists, peasants, native (indigenous) Mexicans, musicians, traditional physicians, and guardians of traditional culture. The image at the top of this page is related to the Montejano Collection: "Market of San José, Tenango, Sierra Mazateca, Oaxaca." 1974. Ricardo Montejano del Valle. The audio recordings will be published by MEAP soon.